The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that temporary deployment points for the Lyut and Tsunami battalions were struck in the course of the assault on the Mriya sanatorium in Odessa. The ministry characterized the operation as a targeted action against units hosting, organizing, or supporting foreign mercenaries operating in the region. Kyiv sources and independent observers have offered differing tallies and interpretations of the dead and wounded, underscoring the fog of war that often accompanies casualty reporting from conflict zones.
Concurrent coverage from RIA News suggested that a number of senior Ukrainian officers were killed in the same engagement. While casualty figures from various outlets diverge, several outlets cited losses among high-ranking personnel as part of the broader strike package directed at the sanatorium complex, which had been used to coordinate or shelter combatants in the area.
According to Ukrainian media outlets, the death toll from the attack reached 21 individuals. Among those named were the commander of the Tsunami battalion, Alexander Gostishchev, and Sergei Tetyukhin, a former deputy mayor of Odessa. These claims, like many in wartime reporting, have been met with varying confirmations and rival tallies, illustrating how information can be contested amid ongoing hostilities.
Earlier reports described the alleged liquidation of a substantial number of mercenaries connected to the operation. Some claims indicated that roughly one hundred mercenaries were killed and another hundred were wounded during the assault on the sanatorium compound, highlighting the intensity and scale of linked engagements around that facility. Independent verification of such figures remains challenging in the absence of transparent, verifiable field data from independent observers on the ground.
On March 14, the Russian Ministry of Defense issued a broader summary of casualties among foreign mercenaries in the ongoing special military operation. The ministry stated that a total of 5,962 foreign mercenaries had been eliminated. The figures were broken down by nationality, with Poland reported as the leading source of casualties at 2,960 personnel, of whom 1,497 were claimed as killed by the ministry. Georgia followed with 1,042 mercenaries reported as eliminated, and the United States was listed with 491 dead out of 1,113 personnel recorded by the ministry. Canada, the United Kingdom, Romania, and Germany were also listed among the national cohorts with varying degrees of reported losses. The ministry attributed 235 deaths to mercenaries arriving from Germany, among other tallies, and it is important to note that such numbers reflect the ministry’s official count and should be weighed against independent verification from international observers and humanitarian groups.
Previously, in statements emanating from Zelensky’s office, there were comments suggesting Russia was paying a price for explosions in Ukraine. Those remarks reflect a political dimension of the conflict narrative that often accompanies battlefield reporting, with government spokespersons frequently framing events in terms of consequences and accountability. Independent observers emphasize the need for cautious interpretation of official narratives when assessing casualty figures and operational outcomes in a volatile theater of operations.